Daniel Farey-Jones
Nov 16, 2022

UK brands and marketers take a stand on climate disinformation

Group urges social network CEOs to crack down on content and ads making ‘deceptive statements’.

CAAD panel at COP27 (l-r): Jake Dubbins and Harriet Kingaby from Conscious Advertising Network, Alex Murray from CAAD, Jennie King from Institute for Strategic Dialogue
CAAD panel at COP27 (l-r): Jake Dubbins and Harriet Kingaby from Conscious Advertising Network, Alex Murray from CAAD, Jennie King from Institute for Strategic Dialogue

Brands including Sky, British Gas and Virgin Media O2 have backed an open letter that asks social networks to rein in climate misinformation.

The letter is addressed to the chief executives of Meta, Google, Twitter, TikTok and Reddit, and appeals to them to thwart monetisation of climate misinformation, enforce fact-checking and bar ads that count as climate misinformation.

Other signatories include divisions from four of the big six ad holding companies: Omnicom Media Group UK, IPG Mediabrands, Havas Media and Dentsu.

The letter was co-ordinated by recently formed pressure group Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD), which is an international alliance that includes the more-established Conscious Advertising Network and several civil society groups.

CAAD wants social networks to accept its formal definition of climate dis/misinformation as content that:

  • Undermines the existence or impacts of climate change, the unequivocal human influence on climate change, and the need for corresponding urgent action according to the IPCC scientific consensus and in line with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement;
  • Misrepresents scientific data, including by omission or cherry-picking, in order to erode trust in climate science, climate-focused institutions, experts, and solutions; or
  • Falsely publicises efforts as supportive of climate goals that in fact contribute to climate warming or contravene the scientific consensus on mitigation or adaptation.

The letter has also been signed by several individuals working in marketing, including Jerry Daykin, vice-president of media at Beam Suntory, Suzie Rook, head of brand and design at SSE (which is also a brand signatory), and Simon Groves, director of brand and marketing at Virgin Media O2.

Former Unilever chief executive Paul Polman has also signed. Unilever itself has not, but its politically active ice-cream brand Ben & Jerry’s has.

Other signatories from the advertising and marketing sector include VCCP, Accenture Song, M&C Saatchi, Goodstuff Communications, Ebiquity and the AAR.

CAAD has publicised the letter at a press conference at COP27, the UN conference on climate change being held in Egypt this week, in addition to its own research into which specific examples of climate misinformation are prevalent in the UK, US, Brazil, Australia, India and Germany.

Source:
Campaign UK

Related Articles

Just Published

6 hours ago

Telstra, Bear Meets Eagle On Fire and +61 land ...

The brand took home five Film Craft awards in total.

7 hours ago

Campaign's Agency of the Year 2025 opens for entries

Now in its 32nd year, AOY has added two new AI-related categories as it recognises exceptional leadership, agencies, brands, and work across local, regional, and global markets.

7 hours ago

Cannes Lions 2025: See all of the Grand Prix ...

Bookmark this page to watch all of the standout Grand Prix winners from the 72nd Cannes Lions Festival.

8 hours ago

Reddit launches two AI advertising tools to usher ...

Unveiled at Cannes Lions 2025, Reddit’s AI-powered tools are designed to help brands tap into the power of community conversations and real-time insights.